


Tawny feathers

by Phantomxlegend



Series: Phantom is having Minecraft brainrot [7]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Im continuing to ignore canon, Light Angst, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Sort Of, Video Game Mechanics, Wing Grooming, Winged Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Wingfic, i dont know why i wrote this, mild amounts of blood, minecraft stuff, plot? I also dont know her, preening, probably ooc ngl, theyre soft ok, this is written as platonic, timeline? i dont know her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 21:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30145719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantomxlegend/pseuds/Phantomxlegend
Summary: So maybe Dream knew what he had done was incredibly stupid, going out in the middle of the night, not telling anyone where he was going just to fight.  His hands shaking with barely repressed energy, wings twitching underneath his heavy green cloak used to hide them.--Dream goes out in the middle of the night, gets hurt and ends up having to reveal the biggest secret that he's hidden since he created the server.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Phantom is having Minecraft brainrot [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2163861
Comments: 7
Kudos: 339





	Tawny feathers

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline and relation to canon? Don't know her. This is one of those fics that has taken me like weeks to write because I keep bouncing back and forth between "this idea high key sucks why am I writing this?" to "yeah well I don't care if no one else wants to read this, I want to read this." to "What the hell is this idea even?" so it was a real trip. I'm not giving up on the winged headcanon, please I love them so much I don't even know why I wrote this.
> 
> But have this ig. I'm still ignoring canon because I don't know how to write canon so... Also not exaggerating when I said it took me around an hour to find a title for this fic and the title sucks. Anyway.
> 
> based on the characters not the content creators. 
> 
> enjoy???

So maybe Dream knew what he had done was incredibly stupid, going out in the middle of the night, not telling anyone where he was going just to fight. His hands shaking with barely repressed energy, wings twitching underneath his heavy green cloak used to hide them. After creating this server, he started to hide them, better to let no one know than have someone possibly able to use it against him. If he got into a sticky enough situation he could use them as a last resort, but as a result, care had gone a little on the backburner of Dreams priorities.

So maybe he was a bit distracted, the leather grip on his axe felt off, his wings itched with misplaced feathers, his boots were strapped too tight. The rattling of bones registering seconds too late, an arrow lodging itself in his shoulder. Dream grunted, turning to find the skeleton. Another arrow shot through the trees, striking into his thin armor used for stealth that barely offered protection. 

As he saw the skeleton, he shattered it in one slash but not before it could get another arrow into his arm. He hissed under his breath.

His arm was numb and his wing ached, the potions that he had on him weren’t going to help very much. Dream sighed leaning up against a tree, pressing the heel of his palm to the wound, the arrow protruding from his back. He assumed that was a good enough sign to call it a night, the pain that radiated from his shoulder was enough to tamp down the building restless energy.

Monsters grunted and growled around him, Dream shifted his mask to the side just to gain a bit more visual. His eyes darted around the dark forest careful of anything that could pop out. At least he knew this forest, he could navigate it blindfolded and be able to get home.

Dream blinked, slashing a spider that dared to get too close, the body turned to dust. 

The lights were off in the house that he shared with George and Sapnap, he was glad for that. George was often awake in the middle of the night and if he was awake right now that would only lead to more troubles and questions. If he could take care of the arrows and get into bed before morning then no one would need to know.

The door slammed a little too loudly when he entered, Dream dropped his mask onto the counter near the door. Unbuckling the straps of his armor as he made his way to the bathroom where the first aid kit was. Normally he’d try to be quieter but the amount of blood that soaked into his clothes was starting to become worrying.

Dream dug through the first aid kit, tugging the arrow out of his arm. He soaked a towel in a potion of health, dabbing it against the wound. He didn’t know how he was going to take care of the arrow in his shoulder, it was hard to reach, and if he asked George or Sapnap they’d both find out about his wings and also scold him for going out on his own without telling anyone.

One of the bedroom doors creaked open and Dream swore under his breath, unsure if he remembered to lock the bathroom door.

“Dream?” There was a soft knock on the door, it was Sapnap on the other side, “that you?”

Dream bit his lip to keep from hissing as the arrow wound stung when he pressed against it harder to stop the bleeding. 

“Yeah… uh… you need something?” Dream whispered, steeling himself. 

“What are you doing? George heard you leave…” Sapnap yawned.

“Went out for some fresh air y’know.” It wasn’t completely a lie, yet it wasn’t the full truth either. Dream’s heart thrummed rapidly against his chest, he looked back at the lock on the door finding that the door wasn’t locked. He cursed himself but his hands were full.

“You okay? You sound kinda worn out.”

“Fine, yeah, go back to bed Sap.”

His wings twitched and the broken feathers pulled against each other painfully. Sapnap didn’t say anything for a while and Dream had thought he had gone back to bed. 

“Can I come in?” Sapnap finally asked, causing Dream to flinch.

“I’d rather you not…”

“Just to make sure you’re not hiding anything,” his tone was accusatory. It wasn’t like Dream was known for hiding his injuries and taking care of them on his own. (Maybe he was but that wasn’t the point).

Dream stared at the bloody cloths on the counter and the medical supplies. There was no hiding this. And it wasn’t like Sapnap was just going to let it go.

“Dream?”

“The door is already unlocked,” Dream huffed, staring at his own reflection, wrapping his arm in bandages.

The door opened and Sapnap sighed heavily, “this is why I didn’t trust you, how the hell did this happen?”

Dream glared at Sapnap through the mirror, “how do you think?”

Sapnap only sighed again and took the roll of bandages from Dream. Wordlessly working to patch up the wounds.

“Skeleton?”

Dream’s silence seemed enough of an answer for Sapnap, “Why were you even out? It’s the middle of the night, you know there’s monsters around.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Dream hissed, “I had too much energy.”

Sapnap considered that for a few seconds, choosing not to comment, “I need you to take your cloak off, I don’t even know how you planned to deal with this on your own when you can’t even reach this one.”

“I was handling it,” Dream said, not moving to take his cloak off. It was the only thing that hid his wings, and Sapnap and George didn’t know. He trusted the two, yes. But he didn’t want people to know.

“You were handling it pretty poorly, now cloak off.”

Sapnap pushed Dream to sit down on the toilet, impatience hidden in his tone. Dream huffed and avoided eye contact as he unclasped his cloak. The arrow thankfully wasn’t lodged in the fabric or else it would make things a bit more difficult.

Dream sat with his back to Sapnap, dropping the cloak on the floor. He heard Sapnap suck in a sharp breath.

“We’re talking about this later.” and Dream knew what he was referring to. Dream didn’t agree or disagree to that promise and instead kept his mouth shut as Sapnap pulled the arrow out. Going through the same motions that Dream had previously with taking care of the wound.

Dream shivered, his feathers fluffing up involuntarily. He hated this, hated being so exposed right now, and he hated the heavy silence that he could cut through if he had his axe. This was worse than standing naked outside in the rain (which was something he had done, it was a long story).

“You’re lucky it’s not deep and you’re lucky it didn’t hit…” Sapnap trailed off, sighing again, “why the hell did you hide them? From us too. Does George know?”

Dream looked over his shoulder, Sapnap was putting the medical supplies away, handing Dream the rest of the potion which Dream took a small sip of, “No one knows. I wanted to keep it that way.”

He curled his wings around himself.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of an important thing to tell your best friends?”

“I was going to tell you eventually.” Was that actually the truth? Dream himself didn’t even know.

“Have you always had… wings?”

“Yes.”

Sapnap ran his fingers through his hair, “I’m going to go wake George up.” 

Dream figured that he would if George wasn’t already awake, he deserved to know. And since his biggest secret was out of the bag, might as well tell the rest of the house. Dream finished cleaning up when Sapnap left, ignoring the pain in his arm and shoulder whenever he moved. 

Dream was now settled on the living room couch, his wings tucked behind him in a practiced way, he no longer got comfort out of cocooning himself in the feathers after so long of hiding them.

“I just fell asleep, what do you need?” George muttered with a yawn as Sapnap dragged him into the living room.

“Emergency family meeting,” Sapnap huffed.

“Can’t the emergency wait?”

George noticed Dream sitting on the couch, he tilted his head to one side, exhaustion evident on his face. Dream didn’t say anything, his lips pressed together in a tight line. They were used to seeing his face, and yet Dream hated the way he could never hide his emotions from them, even with his mask.

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” George asked a bit impatiently, “I’m tired.”

“Dream,” Sapnap raised an eyebrow.

“There’s something that I’ve needed to show you both,” Dream started, his tone level, he shifted uncomfortably.

“What is it…” George licked his lips, clenching his jaw, “and where did those bandages come from?”

Dream didn’t respond to that, instead, he leaned forward, wincing as he stretched his wings out. His shoulders shook, the movement pulling on the arrow wound, misplaced feathers tugging on each other painfully.

“What!” George’s eyes widened, he stared at Dream with a dumbfounded expression, looking back and forth between Dream’s face and his wings, “Why the hell am I just seeing this now? How long have you had wings?”

Neither of them seemed angry, Sapnap’s annoyance was well placed and guarded other emotions, George looked in awe. Dream didn’t like this current attention and he knew his feathers fluffed up with his growing unease.

George’s next question was one that Dream was sort of expecting, yet it took him by surprise nonetheless, “Can I touch them?”

Dream sighed and rolled his shoulders in an indefinite answer, “I don’t care.”

George sat down next to Dream his hand hovering over the fluffy tawny-colored feathers. Sapnap sat down on the armrest of the couch, watching with a fond expression. George’s fingers brushed against Dream’s wing almost causing him to flinch.

It had been a long time since anyone had touched his wings and the feeling was weird to experience again. 

“Why did you hide them from us?” Sapnap asked, crossing his legs in front of himself.

“If I got into a sticky situation, they’re a last resort. I didn’t want people to be able to exploit that,” Dream said, rubbing his eyes.

“Oh?”

Dream shivered, George still petting his wing making it a bit hard to focus.

“What bad situations are you planning on getting into?” Sapnap asked.

“It's…” Dream frowned, “it’s just a precaution.”

Sapnap hummed, raising one eyebrow.

“Can you fly?” George asked, his hand finally stilling. Dream hesitated for a long time.

“Sort of…” Dream spread his hands, “it’s been a while though.” 

He wasn’t sure how well he could fly after not doing so for so long. He would also need to fix up his feathers which would serve as a problem. He’d probably have to do that later today while he was thinking about it. Dream folded his wings back behind himself, George pouted. 

“Are we done here? Am I allowed to go to bed?” Dream asked, looking between George and Sapnap.

“I do know how to preen wings,” Sapnap said, “I didn’t wanna say anything but they look pretty bad.”

“What?” Dream squinted at Sapnap. 

“I mean if you don’t want me to,” Sapnap shrugged, his tone teasing, “you’re more than welcome to go to bed.”

Dream hesitated and Sapnap knew that he would. 

“If you’d like to, you can,” Dream finally said after a long silence. Sapnap chuckled.

“I would like to, yes. And you owe me for hiding this for so long.” 

Dream huffed, his face heating up. Sapnap stared at him for a few seconds before Dream turned around, George grinned at him tiredly. 

“You do know what you’re doing?” Dream asked, folding his hands in his lap, extending one wing.

“I don’t even think you know what you’re doing,” Sapnap grumbled, “hiding something like this from us for so long, and not even taking care of your wings.”

Sapnap sifted his fingers through the feathers, Dream jumped which caused George to laugh. Dream only blushed harder.

“You realize how much you could have the advantage over like… anything if you didn’t hide them?” Sapnap asked, not doing very much at the moment, only running his fingers through the fluffy feathers and petting Dream’s wings.

“I know,” Dream mumbled, his shoulder ached from the arrow wound and he tried to ignore the pain. George sunk into the couch, watching Dream’s expression.

Sapnap hummed, using both his hands now to move the bent feathers back into place. Dream shivered, his eyes widening at the feeling. Sapnap’s hands were warm and gentle when he worked, and Dream could barely stop his feathers from fluffing up in contentedness.

He could almost cry with relief as the pain that he had gotten used to started to go away. Sapnap laughed when Dream tilted forward.

“Shut up,” Dream snapped but there was barely any bite behind his tone. George chuckled as well. His fingers tingled and his thoughts were a bit cloudy.

“This is sweet,” he said.

Dream was about to deny it but the words wouldn’t form properly in his head. Sapnap was almost finished with his right-wing, fluff and loose feathers settled onto the floor. Dream felt more relaxed than he had felt in months, and just now was he starting to realize how exhausted he was.

“You have to move so that you can extend the other one,” Sapnap said, brushing his fingers against the preened feathers. Dream sighed, shifting so that he was facing the back of the couch instead of George. It wasn’t the most ideal position but Sapnap was going to have to work with it. His other wing drooped, Dream didn’t have the energy to fold it.

Sapnap didn’t complain about the position. He just continued to hum a soft tune, minding the arrow wound on Dream’s shoulder. George was leaning against Dream’s other shoulder, asleep.

By the time that Sapnap had finished with Dream’s other wing, it was almost five in the morning. George was snoring, and Sapnap was pretty sure that Dream had fallen asleep as well with his face pressed into the back of the couch. His wings were droopy, occasionally one would twitch.

Sapnap yawned, grabbing a blanket from the linen closet, he wrapped it around the two of them, not even bothering to try and move them. His clothes were covered in small feathers that he attempted to brush off as he made his way back to his room, collapsing on the bed. Might as well try to get a little sleep before he was forced awake in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> they are soft. Romance is dead, "platonic cuddling" is my new favorite thing to write. I don't even know why or how this turned out to be like two thousand words, where did all those words come from???? anyway uhhHHH thanks for reading? I hope you enjoyed. The winged AUs for apparently any character lives constantly rent free in my mind ngl.
> 
> sent with love


End file.
